Unloveable characters
The thoughts in my previous blog about characters doing unsavoury things were somewhat unformed. I think it's about being a little anxious that readers (in particular agents or editors) may not like the characters because of the violence they are involved in. Though I like the sound of Sarah's comment about me getting into the mindset (thank you, Sarah!) I am concerned about conservatism from those who might read the jolly old ms.Probably, the main thing is that I love my lead characters, and that will carry us through. They have to do hard things, but are still human. In the end, I know I'll write what I like and just trust to the powers-that-be that someone might like it enough to publish it one day. Got to finish the bloomin' thing first, mind ;-)
posted by Alex Bordessa @ Sunday, February 26, 2006
4 Comments:
That sounds like a very sensible attitude, I'd say. I don't think it's possible to second-guess what someone else might or might not like. Not everybody likes everything (just as well, because there certainly isn't time to read everything!), so whatever you write will probably annoy someone - but by the same token, it might be just what someone else was looking for.
Characters doing unsavoury things can still be interesting enough to attract the reader and make him continue reading.
Take Cerdic (Duggan's Conscience of a King). He's sneaky, egoicstic, a traitor and assassin, but I sorta like him. He definitely is a 3D character.
Cerdic is just plain bad :-) I wouldn't want to read too many books featuring leads like him, but he gets away with it due to his wicked sense of humour. I doubt if it would have worked so well for me if written in 3rd person. But it's first person, and great insight into his motivations can easily be communicated. Hurrah for 1st person when it's done so well!
My lead characters aren't that bad, but some of the secondary characters are pretty horrid.
Yes, I agree, first person and his voice have a lot to do with it.
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